A bunch of cash | New Yorker

Because I’m not feeling well, I love visiting the Presidential Library. The first I went to was Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York. (In an Instagram post, I described this experience as “historically attractive.” Telling you I’m not cool.) I also visited the library of John F. Kennedy in Boston and Lyndon B. Johnson’s in Austin, where the most memorable exhibition is a life-sized animated model of Johnson’s, the life-sized. (On Instagram, I described it as “disturbing.”) On a road trip in 2019, I forced a friend to cross the campus of Texas A.&M so we could visit George HW Bush’s library. The exhibition includes a condolences book for the president’s wife, Barbara Bush, who spelled “Condolences” by Paul Ryan.

During his first semester at Donald Trump, I sometimes imagined his double love for tasteless real estate projects and self-depletion, and I sometimes imagined his library. Obviously, I’m not the only one: even before Trump took office, Jeffrey Frank portrays an interviewIn this magazine, take a replica of the famous Trump Tower escalator; other reporter Wondering whether Trump’s library might not be a theme park. When a well-known historian asked his Twitter followers to recommend possible locations, the response included prisons, North Korea and total landscaping for four seasons. (I gambled with a friend, which will be built in Mar-Alago; my friend was shocked by Bedminster.) The expected confirmation never came after Trump left the office in 2021, apparently because he thought it was his political career to start working in the library, as his political career was over. However, since he returned to office this year, the plan has moved forward, and while I may not win the bet, I may be close: Florida lawmakers passed a bill that makes it easier for the Presidential Library to pass them through exempting them from local regulations and exempting Florida Atlantic University (Mar-a-Lago), which is close to Mar-a-Lago, which seems to be welcome. “We think there are some truths that are self-evident,” said a lawmaker who supports the bill. “‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie where almonds and cashew milk are more accurately described as nut juices, and President Trump’s library should be located in Florida.”

Often, such conversations and the media coverage that ensues are nothing more than curiosity, even in a moment of so many urgent news stories. However, in many stories, future libraries have reappeared as leitmotif. This behavior was widely condemned as bold corruption when Trump announced his administration would accept the Qatar administration’s luxury aircraft – it will eventually enter the library after a period of time serving Air Force One. Also Go to the Library: Trump has gained from settlements struggling from media and tech companies after many critics portrayed blatant lawsuits. Yuan, X and ABC News reportedly collectively assured the library $40 million. In July, Paramount, the parent company of CBS, was seeking approval for a federal merger, deducting $16 million on the payment, minus attorney fees, after Trump filed a ridiculous lawsuit that Trump put “60 minutes” of “60 minutes” for “60 minutes” to be interviewed by Kamala Harris. (The merger was green last week.) The library “will be a permanent monument to Paramount’s surrender, constantly reminding it of its failure to defend freedoms that are essential to our democratic nations.”

This trend is disturbing – even more important than the animation lbj, it also feels like the betrayal of the Presidential Library that I have always loved: they are places where you can stay in Americana, safe time distance from the threatening autocratic trends of modern politics. Again, this may always be a naive view of this kind of space. Of course, many people live in history. And, as often as Trump does, his way of funding libraries is clumsy, but he is shining with huge lights in the legal areas that have long been problematic. He also reminded him of the importance of history and set it to whom.

The idea of the Presidential Library dates back to the late nineteenth century, when Roosevelt decided to donate his papers to the federal government and move it to a fireproof building near his family home. According to former congressional staffer Anthony Clark, a book about the Presidential Library, Roosevelt showed the space for souvenirs to the public “almost as an afterthought.” Most presidential libraries come to house paper trails of the presidency for consulting by researchers and are also memorial museums, which is the material that most visitors really visit. Over time, these museums became more ambitious and sometimes proved to have doubtful historical value. Richard Nixon’s museum initially took Watergate as a coup and accused Woodward and Bernstein of bribery.

Roosevelt had no legal obligation to publicly publish papers, but since 1978, due to Nixon and Watergate Gate, presidential records have been considered federal property and should be handed over to the National Archives and Records Administration. There has never been a government requirement to open associated museums, but these museums are usually managed. Nara. (Nixon is unusual because it was privately operated for many years; in 2007, Nara Take over it and tear it off, replacing the Watergate Exhibition. When the Presidential Library donates to the government, they also have to hand over the donation to help cover future maintenance costs.

Barack Obama breaks mold: His Presidential Museum in Chicago, somehow still Not open is a private effort that is entirely run by the foundation. His official records are being digitized and will continue to be supervised Nara. Clark expressed hope for the arrangement after announcing an effective divorce for the library and museum functions. “The aim is to seriously study the center has grown into a flashy partisan temple, touting clumsy history,” he said. Writein Politico. “Even if they are taxpayers funded and controlled by federal agencies, the private foundations created by the former president aim to build libraries retained a huge impact.” Obama’s model will at least disconnect the administration from the contourism business. However, not everyone supports it. Timothy Naftali, who overhauled the Nixon facility, became its first federal director and now a Colombian historian, argued that the private nature of the Obama Center was a barrier to nonpartisan public history. “This opens the door, opening to a truly terrible Trump library,” he said.

The threat Trump posed to maintaining an accurate historical record should now be obvious. During his first semester, he was charged with chopping documents, Flush the toilet;After leaving the office, he was criminally prosecuted for hoarding official files, some of whom were classified in Mar-a-Lago, and then hindered the government’s efforts to restore it. (At one point, Trump tried to claim that some of Mar-a-Lago’s files were bound to his library; perhaps in a narrow sense, I did win my bet after all.) And, there is reason to worry that the Trump Museum would become a monument to conspiracy theory. follow uprising Washington critic Philip Kennicott at Capitol in 2021 postal,,,,, debate It is dangerous to allow Trump to have a presidential library completely. He called on Congress to step in and put Americans “shy at anyone, including construction companies, exhibition designers and corporate donors, who helped Trump continue lies that almost destroyed our 244-year-old efforts to build a republic of democratic governments.”

Even before the uprising, Some observers Noted that Trump’s split may make it difficult for him to raise funds for his library from corporate donors. Now, of course, the problem is exactly the opposite – there is no shortage of affluent interests seeking to pay Trump loyalty, and his future library seems to be a particularly convenient way for them to do so. This is because, unlike other forms of political donations, anyone can make donations to the President’s library program at any time without any strict disclosure requirements. After Qatar proposed to give Trump a luxury jet, critics suggested the government use the statement that it would end in his library as a rule banning foreign Emer timber. According to ABC News, legal analysis by Attorney General Pam Bondi seems to have made a lot of suggestions. (Recently, ABC and Washington postal The report said the deal concluded that the jet’s transmission was not a condition on the library’s destination. )

Trump may want his library to have a shiny plane as a tourist destination. Ronald Reagan’s library has one, Obviously inspired Trump. (In view of the reports that people associated with the Reagan Library called Trump the “spoiled kid in the sandbox” and “Voldemort.” Last month, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren A report was released The headlines “look frankly at the bribery?”, the person claimed Trump’s library has received at least a billion dollars in gifts so far. In addition to the Katari jets and Trump’s settlement with media companies, other cash flows reportedly designated for the library include remaining employment funds and the proceeds from private dinners; companies that make collectibles, clothing and cooking utensils have committed to donating merchandise sales. Warren and other Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill that, among other things, would prohibit the president from raising funds for libraries while still in office, with limited exceptions; extend the ban for two years for donations from foreign nationals, lobbyists, contractors and those seeking pardons; for at least a period of time, donations of $200 or more were authorized Naraand the donor’s identity is made public. In theory, legislators can go further. Last week, historian Naftali interview With WNYC’s “media,” the “best way to eliminate this opportunity for corruption” will allow Congress to fully fund libraries, although he added that this is unlikely to happen.